Chapter 7
It was a bright and shiny new morning at Hogwarts, and Cassidy Sweet stood in the greenhouse with her friends. Harry and Ron were to her right, Neville to her left, and Hermione stood across from them, not too far from Draco Malfoy and his ever-present entourage.
Well, they weren't exactly chatting. It was more like Cassidy and Hermione scolding Harry and Ron while Neville awkwardly tried not to laugh.
"What do you mean, you came in a flying car?!" Cassidy exclaimed, smacking Ron and Harry with her gloves for emphasis. "You could've just waited for Mr. and Mrs. Weasley to come back, you absolute numpties!"
"But Cassidy, we were desperate!" Ron protested, holding up his hands defensively. Harry nodded earnestly behind him, trying to back him up.
"Yeah, desperately stupid! You could've died!" Cassidy snapped, glaring at them. "Your mum is going to skin you alive when she finds out. Mark my words!"
The boys opened their mouths to reply, but before they could, a short, cheerful woman bustled into the greenhouse.
"Good morning, students!" Professor Sprout called out, clapping her hands.
"Good morning, Professor Sprout!" the class replied in unison, falling into line.
"Welcome to the greenhouse for second years. Now, please, gather round!" she instructed, gesturing for the students to move closer to the row of pots on the long tables.
Cassidy glanced at Ron, raising an eyebrow in warning as if daring him to try arguing again, before stepping closer.
"Now, today, we're going to repot Mandrakes!" Professor Sprout announced. "Can anyone tell me the properties of the Mandrake root?"
Hermione's hand shot up immediately, as expected.
"Yes, Miss Granger?"
"Mandrake, or Mandragora, is used to restore those who have been Petrified to their original state," Hermione said confidently.
Cassidy felt a strange flicker of warmth from the necklace hidden beneath her robes, but she ignored it, focusing instead on Hermione, who wasn't done yet.
"It's also quite dangerous, as the Mandrake's cry is fatal to anyone who hears it."
"Brutal," Cassidy muttered, a bit intrigued despite herself.
"Excellent, ten points to Gryffindor," Professor Sprout said, her eyes twinkling.
The Gryffindor students beamed, with Harry and Ron exchanging a smug grin. The Slytherins, however, looked far less impressed—Draco Malfoy in particular was scowling like someone had stolen his broomstick.
"Way to go, 'Mione," Cassidy whispered, giving Hermione a quick thumbs-up. Hermione smiled in return, pleased with herself.
Professor Sprout continued, "Now, as our Mandrakes are only seedlings, their cries won't kill you yet." She paused, looking at the students pointedly. "However, they will knock you out for several hours. This is why I'm handing out earmuffs! Put them on quickly, now."
Cassidy grabbed a pair of bright red earmuffs and pulled them on tightly, making sure they fit snugly over her ears. She couldn't hear Ron's attempts to convince her that flying the car wasn't that dangerous and that "we came out fine, Cass, can't you talk to us?" She simply stuck her tongue out at him and turned away, grinning at his exasperated expression.
Professor Sprout began demonstrating the process of repotting Mandrakes, but Cassidy's focus shifted for a moment. She glanced at Neville, noticing him fumbling nervously with his earmuffs. A flash of concern crossed her face—maybe she should've helped him, just in case.
Her thoughts were interrupted when Professor Sprout yanked a particularly ugly Mandrake seedling out of its pot. The moment it emerged, it let out a horrendous, high-pitched scream. Cassidy could feel the vibration through her gloves as she clamped her hands tightly over her already-secured earmuffs.
Around her, the class hurriedly did the same—except for Neville, who swayed on his feet before collapsing to the ground.
"Oh, Nev," Cassidy muttered, shaking her head as she watched Seamus stand frozen in alarm beside him.
Professor Sprout sighed, looking down at Neville. "Longbottom's been neglecting his earmuffs again."
"No, ma'am, he's just fainted," Seamus corrected, his voice muffled.
"Ah. Well, just leave him there," Professor Sprout said dismissively, turning back to the rest of the class.
Cassidy knelt briefly to prop Neville's unconscious body against the table before stepping over him to rejoin the others.
"Right, off we go! Plenty of pots to go around!" Professor Sprout clapped her hands again. "Grasp your Mandrake firmly—"
Cassidy reluctantly reached for the wriggling, ugly seedling in front of her, her nose wrinkling in distaste.
"Now, pull it up!"
With a burst of dirt and soil, the baby Mandrakes were ripped free of their pots, screeching their little heads off. Cassidy couldn't hear the sound but winced anyway at the sight of their flailing roots.
Her eyes darted to Draco Malfoy, who was yelping as a particularly feisty Mandrake bit his finger. Cassidy laughed under her breath, earning an annoyed glare from him. Meanwhile, Ron looked like he might throw up, his face pale as he held the writhing Mandrake at arm's length.
"Gosh, they're ugly," Cassidy muttered, grimacing at the creature in her hands.
She gasped as the Mandrake in her grasp snapped at her, causing her to jump and hurriedly stuff it into the nearest pot.
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"So, a mysterious lady appears in your dream, you don't know what she looks like, and someone was chasing her?" Harry recounted, as Ron fixed his broken wand with Spellotape and Hermione read a textbook.
"....and she was holding my necklace. When she put it on, she looked scary. Like a different person." Cassidy explained.
"Did she look like you when you're hungry? Ron quipped, prompting Cassidy to throw a piece of food at him.
They were all in the Great Hall, eating lunch. Cassidy had recounted her dream from last night to the group, having already forgiven Ron and Harry from their recklessness.
"Look, you did say on the ride back from rescuing me that your dad said that necklace is traditional, right?" Harry said, thinking.
"Right." She agreed.
"Then it must've been a previous holder of it. Maybe you should look into your family tree-"
"Hi, Harry!" A young, blonde boy yelled.
Suddenly, a bright flash assaulted the group's eyes.
"Oi, what the-" Cassidy blinked, disoriented.
"I'm Colin Creevey! I'm in Gryffindor too!" The young boy said excitedly.
"H-hi Colin, nice to meet you." Harry said, hesitating.
Before Cassidy could say anything, a loud screech sounded throughout the hall.
"Oh my goodness, Ron, is that Errol?!" Cassidy gaped at the feathery mess that flew towards their table. He swooped downwards, crashing into the large bowl of chips in front of them. The table gasped, and Slytherin's table burst into laughter, Draco in particular.
"SHUT IT, MALFOY!" Cassidy yelled, as Ron looked down in embarrassment. Ron slowly took the envelope in Errol's beak, and the owl quickly corrected himself and flew away.
"Bloody bird's a mess." Ron muttered, looking at the letter.
"Oh no!" He said helplessly.
"Look, everyone! Weasleys got himself a Howler." Seamus remarked, making the Slytherin table chuckle once again.
"Who's it from?" Cassidy asked, a knowing smirk already on her face.
"M-my mum." Ron trembled.
"Told you so. You'd best open it, Ronnie." Cassidy taunted.
"Go on, Ron!" Neville piped up. "I ignored one from my gran once...it was horrible." Neville stared off into space, the unpleasant memory clearly coming back to him.
Ron and Harry's heads whipped back to the letter he held, then to Cassidy and Hermione, fear in their eyes.
"You heard him, Ron." Cassidy shrugged, sitting back.
Ron gulped, slowly opening the red letter. Immediately, an all too familiar voice rang out in the hall.
"RONALD WEASLEY!"
"Oh, it's over." Cassidy remarked as the letter unfolded itself to resemble a mouth.
"HOW DARE YOU STEAL THAT CAR! I AM ABSOLUTELY DISGUSTED! YOUR FATHER'S NOW FACING AN ENQUIRY AT WORK, AND IT'S ENTIRELY YOUR FAULT! IF YOU PUT ANOTHER TOE OUT OF LINE, WE'LL BRING YOU STRAIGHT HOME!"
Ron trembled quietly in fear as the Howler turned to face Ginny.
"Oh, and Ginny dear, congratulations on making it into Gryffindor. Your father and I are so proud." Ginny looked at the Howler, slightly embarrassed. The Howler looked back at Ron, blew its tongue, and shredded itself into pieces.
The room remained silent for a moment before everyone burst into laughter.
Ron looked around the Hall, mortified.
All eyes were on him.